Craigslist ad for Police Association sticker leads to day in court

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LOWELL -- A Chelmsford man is in a sticky legal situation after allegedly posting for sale on Craigslist a Massachusetts Police Association windshield sticker that belongs to an Ashby police officer.

Wayne E. Sobanek, 29, pleaded not guilty in Lowell District Court Thursday to two counts of false use of an association insignia. Sobanek, who was summonsed into court, was released on personal recognizance with a pretrial conference date of March 31. At that time, prosecutors indicated Sobanek can provide paperwork that could resolve the case.

According to court documents, Billerica police allege that on April 2, they were contacted by Ashby Police Officer Shawn McCluskey who reported that his department has been contacted by the MPA regarding a MPA sticker that was for sale on Craigslist for $50.

The posting read, "BRAND NEW MASSACHUSETTS POLICE ASSOCIATION STICKER HAS NUMBER 2013 YEAR GREAT TO NOT GET PULLED OVER AS THESE ARE FOR POLICE OFFICERS OR FAMILY MEMBERS WE ALSO HAVE A LICENSE PLATE THINK BLUE LINE TOPPERS FOR PLATE."

The posting was made on March 31.

MPA Executive Director James Machado, a sergeant with the Fall River Police Department, said the MPA issues members an official sticker each year with the MPA insignia as registered with the Office of the Secretary of State. The sticker is for use on the rear window of vehicles registered to members of the MPA only.

The photo was of McCluskey's sticker, but he denied posting it for sale on Craigslist, adding that his sticker is affixed to the windshield of his personal vehicle.

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McCluskey reported that his car had recently been serviced at an auto body shop in Billerica. When police went to the auto body shop, they saw a red Pontiac GTO with a thin blue police line on the vanity plate and two MPA stickers on the front windshield. The car was registered to Sobanek.

Sobanek allegedly told police neither he nor members of his family were MPA members. He allegedly admitted he posted the ad on Craigslist after getting the photo off Google. He said the MPA stickers were on his car that he purchased off eBay, documents state.

During his interview with police, Sobanek allegedly told them that if someone responded to the Craigslist posting he would turn the order over to "gr8wing" on eBay, the person he bought his stickers from.

"Sobanek didn't see it as a big deal that he was engaged in the buying and selling of MPA stickers," Billerica Police Detective Andrew Devito wrote.

Police removed the 2012 and 2013 MPA stickers on Sobanek's vehicle and flagged the posting on Craigslist to have it removed. When he returned to the police station, Devito wrote that he tried to find an image of the MPA stickers on Google and couldn't find the image posted on Craigslist.

In checking Sobanek's eBay account, Devito found a feedback on April 1, 2013 to seller "gr8wing," with the response, "Great sticker, will buy more." In another feedback to Sobanek's eBay account that read, "Gr8 communication. A pleasure to do business with you." The items in the sale were two MPA stickers.

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